Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja

"Mediocre? I think not!"

I picked up Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja about a week ago, due only to the fact that it was made by Atlus, perhaps the best game developing company out there. ;) I have played many games made by Atlus in the past, and have found that if you see one in a store, you buy it, because they are so rare. So I did. Although many reviews across the internet peg this game as mediocre, I find it to be one of my favorite games for the Nintendo DS. The game does have a few negatives, but overall It's positive.

Controls: The controls are not very inventive, and fail to use the DS touch screen. However, the use of buttons allow the player to move around in several different styles, which really helps with the abundance of monsters you encounter. Basically, the controls aren't gimmicky, and they get the job done. 7/10

Story: It's pretty unchanging, but it's simple and clever. While visiting a small town with her ninja trainer, Grandboss, Izuna angers the gods and must patch things up in order to save Grandboss, and many of the townspeople, from the wrathful gods. It's simple, but the dialogue used in the game make it 100% better. It's humorous all throughout the game, and brings a positive side to the unbelievable difficulty that this game poses. 7/10

Difficulty: In an era of games made for mainstream gamers, which tend to be much easier than the old school games, Izuna brings a level of difficulty that is unusual. It's an old-school level of difficulty, which becomes oddly frustrating throughout the game. I'd bet I've died over two hundred times in this game. Luckily, all that happens when you die is you lose all the money you have with you, as well as all your items. 9/10

Gameplay: This game is exactly what it describes itself as. A dungeon-crawling RPG played as a hawt ninja (see the games instruction booklet for explanation). The dungeons are randomly generated, so it's impossible to write a walkthrough. This brings a huge challenge to the game. You could go through one part of a dungeon uncontested, but face a plethora of scary monsters the next. Luckily, Izuna's HP rises as she walks around. The bosses are fought just as any monster is, taking turns pressing A and using healing items. It sounds simple, but the boss fights can be intense. It took me ten minutes just to beat the third boss. 8/10

Sound: The music in this game is awesome. It is basically the same 16-bit sound you would hear in an older game, but it utilizes it very well. It's a fun collection of themes. The original Japanese voice overs (only used by some characters) are very interesting and add a cool feel to the game The sound effects used in battles are very generic, but fit the game. 7/10

Graphics: This section is where Izuna is weak. It has the very graphics of any GBA game, and all that is displayed on the top screen could be used in a simple Menu. But, this game is meant to be an old-school dungeon crawler, and the 2-D GameBoy graphics really give it that feel. 6/10

Overall: Izuna's flaws are the fact that it doesn't use the Touch Screen, and it's graphics. With those two combined, it shows that Izuna could have very well been made for the GBA. It's positives are it's difficulty, and it's revival of retro playing styles. I enjoyed Izuna a lot, and will continue to pop it into my DS daily. 7.5/10 (rounded up to an 8, due to the fact that GameFAQs doesn't allow fractions.)

Thanks for reading,

ravenrooney

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/27/07